The Hylian Fantasy: A Fairy's Tale
by Lady of the Seraphim
Summary: Navi once served as guide to the land's savior, the Hero of Time. In a moment of weakness she abandoned her hero. In her absence the Hero met his demise. For this transgression Navi was banished from the Faerie Realm, to wander the world of mortals forever. When she discovers her home is threatened by ancient shadows Navi must come to the aid of those that turned their back on her.
1. Prologue: The Old Refrain

Prologue: The Old Refrain

 _A young girl skipped through the woods happily, her bare feet sinking into the soft damp grass. She moved through the forest with a care free smile on her face following the sounds of soft music from deep within the trees. The girl looked no older than fourteen. Her flawless, ivory skin seemed to glow in the midday light. Her hair was palest silver matched in purity only by the sheen of the summer dress that fell to her knees, bouncing with each step she took. She scanned the trees with eyes the color of a clear summer sky. Their light seemed to pervade her entire body giving her pale form a subtle luminescence nearly invisible to the naked eye._

 _The melody she chased was beautiful, it evoked images of the lush trees around her, of clean flowing streams, of the purity and the wild abandon of nature left entirely to itself. As she moved gracefully through the green something changed. The music became harsher, wilder. The grass beneath the girl's feet became thick and coarse, biting at the girl's feet as though to ensnare her. The sun so high in the sky a moment before fell behind the trees far too fast leaving the woods in shadow. With the dark came malice, as though each tree were watching the girl, biding their time..._

 _The girl sensed the change even before the light vanished. She began to run, her carefree step replaced with urgency and fear. She glanced behind her more than once fearing that something was following her, knowing it was there, keeping her pace but never showing a trace of itself. Waiting till she faltered before it struck. She ran hard and fast for so long that she could feel her soles cut open. The hot white blood coated her feet, staining the grass she tred on as she ran._

 _She could hear it now, even as she spent every ounce of strength she possessed to escape. She could hear its slow steady footfall that despite its lack of speed never seemed to lose her. She pushed herself onward desperate to get away, desperate to escape, desperate never to see the face of what chased her._

 _As the girl ran she passed through a clearing where something made her stop dead in her tracks. It was another girl, short and young with golden blonde hair done up in two ponytails tied back with a band knitted together out of deku leaves. Like all the children of the forest she wore brown leather boots and a green tunic. Fear flooded the pursued girl's stomach as the forest child simply looked on with an amused smile on her face._

 _Unconcerned with the malice of her surroundings the forest child smiled with a sickening grin, cocking her head to the side as though sizing up the one who stood opposite her._

 _"That guy isn't here anymore." The forest child began to skip around the clearing singing a nursery rhyme to the trees._

 _"Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost._

 _Everybody will become a Stalfos._

 _Everybody..._

 _Stalfos..."_

 _As the forest child finished her rhyme the girl heard heavy set footsteps stop behind her. She knew who was standing there, what was standing there. She couldn't turn around, couldn't face him. She couldn't bear to see his dilapidated vine covered armour, his cracked and rusted sword. She didn't want to see the empty holes that were now his eyes, sinister red light spilling out of them accusingly._

 _The girl felt a hard dead claw of a hand grab her by the shoulder and she heard a voice, high, cold and hollow echoing from the depths of a throat that had rotted away. "Where are you... Navi...?"_

 _The girl heard the forest child's laughter fill the clearing. "Are you going to be lost... too?"_

 _Navi sat bolt upright in bed gasping for breath, covered in a cold sweat, the voice of a skeletal knight echoing in her mind._


	2. Chapter 1: Melodies of Exile

Chapter 1: Melodies of Exile

 _A guide with no charge is as a puppet with its strings cut. Such a purposeless thing has no place in this realm. It will be left to the land that remembers it not to eventually fade away._ -The Arbiter

Cold sweat covered Navi's skin from the horror of a dream she had woken from. She fought to catch her breath which came in unsteady gasps, as though she had actually run those desperate leagues through the forest. After a few minutes of listening to her heart beat wildly, Navi managed to calm herself.

 _It was only dream._ She said to herself quietly. _He's not coming for you... he's… not coming back._

Navi looked at the rising sun outside her window. The first month of summer was dawning on the kingdom of Hyrule and the sun, though it was quickly falling behind the outline of Death Mountain, knew it. Its last rays shone bright, warming the cobbled stone streets of Castle Town. Its position left little doubt that twilight would soon be upon them. Navi turned over in her bed staring at the ceiling. She often slept for most of the day as she worked the night shifts in the bar below. It was nearly two hours till she was expected to make another appearance and she wanted desperately to fall back asleep, to enjoy the peace of it. After ten minutes of lying still, however, it became clear that she wouldn't be returning to the world of dreams. Navi had always been an early riser and since she did not require as much sleep as most Hylians she found it much harder to come by than she would have liked.

Resigned to her fate, she pulled off her blankets, exposing her skin to the cold air of the small room that she had called home for the last five years. Enough light from the setting sun spilled in from the window that Navi could see without aid, but its limited rays cast shadows over the room that made it appear smaller and dingier than it truly was.

The floorboards were like ice to Navi's bare feet, but she took no notice of the discomfort as she made her way to a small mirror and washing basin in the corner of her room. The reflection that greeted her was a far cry from the beauty of her younger form. She looked older, just short of her twentieth year from her face. She was still very pretty, her features delicate and well proportioned, her jaw soft and her skin smooth but she seemed to have lost the azure shine that had defined her youth. Her hair was lank and tangled, her skin was tight around her bones giving her a gaunt almost sickly look that was not improved by her naturally pale skin. Most of all though her eyes had lost their shine. Behind the false smile that she fixed to her face, her eyes betrayed a heartbroken expression that suggested she was about to cry.

Navi quickly washed herself before tying her hair into a loose braid that hid it's uncared for quality. She then pulled on a white blouse, light brown shorts, knee high leather boots and an emerald green pinafore dress adorned with a hood before descending the ladder that led out of her attic room and into the stock room below.

The bar above which Navi slept was already bustling despite the early hours. Guards from Hyrule Castle grabbing food and ale after a long shift, merchants just arrived in the city grabbing a pint before the next day's work and of course those few that had been there for much of the day.

Navi settled herself on a stool at the bar, she propped herself up on her elbows and covered her face with her hands.

"You doing alright lass?" As Navi had expected it wasn't long before her patron Telma approached.

"Didn't sleep well." She murmured, glancing up at her host. Telma was a portly woman on the elder side of middle aged. She had dark red hair and skin that was slightly tan though much darker than most Hylians. Her features were severe but she had kind eyes. She wore a floor length skirt and waste length coat which opened to reveal a blouse that was slightly too low cut for someone of Telma's age.

"Nothing a cup of tea and a hot meal can't cure. Why don't you go have a seat with the Guild and I'll whip up something for you."

Navi smiled halfheartedly and pushed herself off the stool. The Adventurer's Guild was a group of Telma's friends. They usually occupied a table in a secluded corner of the bar in which a map of Hyrule was spread before them. Though not an official organization they were devoted to improving life for the people of Hyrule and to that end took on jobs such as slaying monsters along trade routes or protecting convoys.

As she approached the table one of their number spotted her and shouted "Ciela, how you doing this fine morning."

Navi gave a genuine smile at this greeting. Responding naturally to the fake name she had given the Adventurer's Guild five years ago. "I am well Auru. How fairs the Guild?"

Auru was an older man with a shock of white hair on the pinnacle of his head and a well-groomed beard. Despite his age he looked strong, with rough facial features and muscled arms.

"As well as can be expected," said Auru airily, "Shad, you want to fill her in?" he said with an amused smile, clapping the bespectacled man sitting next to him on the back. Shad was much younger than Auru, not more than twenty years.

He jumped at the contact and stammered "W-well, I-I, yes o-of course." Before getting to his feet. Shad seemed to very consistently become nervous whenever Navi got close. She guessed that he didn't have much experience talking to girls. "T-there have been d-disturbances r-reported t-through much of H-Hyrule."

The third member member of the group grunted in disgust. "In the name of the Goddesses Shad, spit it out or let someone else talk." She was raven haired and quite beautiful. No less so for the silver armour she wore and the sword strapped to her side.

Shad crumpled meekly back into his seat, and whispered "Sorry Ashei."

Taking no notice, Ashei launched into a much quicker and more concise explanation of what Shad had been trying to say. "Things have been going wrong throughout the kingdom. Death Mountain has been unusually active as of late, the debris from its constant eruptions blocking or obliterating the trails to the City of the Gorons. The water level of the Zora's River has fallen leading to a depletion of Lake Hylia, the kingdom's main water source. The monsters of Faron Woods have been growing in number and daring. Once content only to roam the deepest areas of the forest they are expanding as far as the Hylian settlements on the eastern edge. And those are just the biggest problems. We've been getting reports of smaller things, bridges collapsing for no reason, droughts in areas normally full of rain, things like that." She sighed "Seems as though a darkness is creeping across the land."

Navi starred down at the map between the Guild members. It was covered in little red dots each of which no doubt marked the sight of one of these 'disturbances'. She'd heard rumors of these types of things for almost a month but, as they came from drunken tavern goers, Navi had never really put any of it together as a problem. Coming from the Guild though, it seemed like a looming threat.

"Don't suppose you've got a legend that solves this one?" Asked Ashei. Navi who was contracted to Telma as a minstrel knew a great deal about the history and legends of Hyrule. As such, the Guild asked her for information every once in a while, when something they were dealing with in the present seemed related to something of the past.

To her own surprise Navi found that she actually did have an old story that corresponded to the events that the Guild had described. "One, perhaps." She murmured.

"Don't keep us waiting Ciela." Said Ashei impatiently.

Navi closed her eyes for a moment, composing herself, preparing to speak of the events as though they were nothing more than a legend, not something personal. "This is but one of the legends of which the people speak... In the distant past a great evil threatened Hyrule. This evil took the form of a thief from the desert tribe named Ganondorf. He was cunning, worming his way into the confidences of the king. With his wit and his skill at sorcery, he hoped to steal the golden power of the gods. However such evil cannot appear unopposed. The Hero of Hyrule rose to face Ganondorf."

The Hero of Hyrule was legendary figure. A green clad swordsman who appeared multiple times throughout Hyrule's history to combat evil. Some thought he was an immortal who only made himself known when the land was threatened. Others believed the Spirit of the original hero would take on human form each time it was needed. Regardless of the truth it was a title that every race in Hyrule recognized.

"However the Hero made a grave mistake. Attempting to preempt Ganondorf's bid for power he inadvertently opened the way for the thief to take the power of the gods for himself while the Hero was cast into an enchanted sleep.

With the power of the gods in his grasp and the hero nowhere to be found the thief became a great Demon King who had control over the natural forces of the land. He killed the Royal Family save for the princess who had fled. He crushed Hyrule Castle to dust and erected a black stone tower in its place. He put the torch to Castle Town, killing those who weren't lucky enough to escape to Kakariko Village. He killed the Great Deku Tree, protector of the forests and without him monsters sprang forth from its depths to devour all who would cross their path. He revived the ancient dragon Volvolgia, the bane of the Gorons and let it loose within Death Mountain. He cursed Zora's Domain into an endless freeze trapping the inhabitants within the ice and ceasing the flow of water to Lake Hylia. He transformed his own people into armoured beasts that would fight for him mindlessly.

The Hero was destined to defeat him. He woke from his slumber seven years later to a land that was much changed but it was no less his duty to defend it. He conquered the five temples of Hyrule and freed the sages Ganondorf had imprisoned within. Using their power he entered the tower the thief had created for himself and confronted him at the top. With the help of Princess Zelda and his fairy companion he defeated the King of Evil. Though much of Hyrule lay in ruins it was at safe from total destruction."

Navi finished by inclining her head to her audience, who had listened enraptured by her tale. When it was done there was some polite applause but most of the group looked confused.

Auru was the first to speak. "I have never heard that particular Tale of the Hero. Surely the total destruction of Hyrule Castle would be in the public record."

Shad spoke up timidly "I-I believe a thief named Ganondorf was executed by the Royal Family a little under two hundred years ago"

Navi gave a sad smile. She'd expected exactly that reaction and it stung more than she could possibly say to suppress the explanation for the legend's absence from the history books. Instead however she merely nodded towards Auru and said. "I am a story teller, I never claim my stories to be fact. However, even fictional tales contain words of wisdom."

"P-perhaps," spoke Shad who seemed to be struggling to speak clearly. "The s-source of Hyrule's m-magic has been corrupted j-just as in the s-story when the t-thief t-took control of the gods p-power."

At this pronouncement Navi cast her mind back to her younger days, to her homeland. She pushed the horrible thought that had just occurred to her aside. "Maybe." She said without conviction.

The moment was interrupted by Telma. She set a plate of steaming potatoes and vegetables on the edge of the table along with a warm tankard of apple spice tea. "Eat up Ciela." She said kindly "You're all skin and bones. A few decent meals'll do you some good." She departed to tend to the other patrons while Navi slipped into an empty chair and listened to the discussion of the Guild as she ate. The food filled something of the hole inside Navi's chest and the tea warmed her insides.

Once the food was gone, Navi stayed at the table listening to discourse of the Guild till someone tapped her on the shoulder. "You're up lass." Telma said, gesturing towards a stage built into a corner of the room.

Navi nodded and retrieved from the store room a violin case. On the stage which was visible to the entire bar despite its small size she cracked the ordinary case open to retrieve a breath takingly beautiful instrument. It was made of a finely polished wood which had a slight blue tinge to it. This marked it as Deku wood from the heart of the Lost Woods. A material very difficult to retrieve due to the forest's dangerous nature. The handle was carved in the shape of a tree branch with a slight crook for the hand of the player. It was strung with silver string and the bow that accompanied it was dark black, carved from a single limb of an ancient tree.

Navi played a simple scale (though she need not have bothered, it never went out of tune) before she started to play. The lyric that came from her violin was slow but catchy. It was one half of a duet that Navi had learned long ago. It evoked images of soft earth and peaceful endings. After a hand sign from Telma Navi changed tunes. She had a preference for lingering melodies but a bar generally required music to get the feet tapping. Navi swapped to the other half of the duet which while still beautiful was much faster. Her fingers moved over the strings at lightening speeds as her bow sawed back and forth. This new tune spoke of the racing winds, of complete freedom and wild abandon. It wasn't long before feet were tapping and hands were banging on tables.

Navi spent the next several hours running through her repertoire. From mighty songs of the desert admittedly more suited to a guitar to stern and powerful ballads that spoke to the strength of Hyrule. She took breaks every few sets for water or to rest her fingers. Occasionally there were requests from the crowd which Navi played, but on the whole, they left her to choose the melodies of the room. Navi's shift was nearly over, she halfway through a rendition of an ancient forest song when something made her fingers freeze and her bow to fall to her side.

Telma looked up at the sudden stop. "Ciela are you okay?" she shouted from the bar.

The man at the door whose appearance had caused Navi's sudden paralysis perked his ears at the name 'Ciela'. He glanced around the bar with interest before his eyes found Navi. His expression of pleasant surprise turned very suddenly in a cruel and mocking smile. He moved through the crowd towards her with a certain grace, slipping between people almost like water in his fluidity.

He looked her up and down before saying. "Ciela, is it now?"

Telma, seeing the man draw near Navi, approached the two, saying "Is everything alright Ciela?"

"It's fine Telma." Navi whispered with a dry throat. "Could you, could you give us a few minutes in private?"

"There's a table in the corner lass." Telma said pointing "If you need any, help, let me know." She gave a distrustful look towards the stranger before leaving them alone.

"Come on." Navi escorted the intruder to the corner table where the closest people were too drunk to care about their conversation.

The stranger was tall and skinny but his stature had a certain supple and graceful aspect to it. Likewise his face was soft and naturally pale, almost milk white beneath the shock of untidy red hair that covered his head. Though his appearance did not generate a sense of power his manner certainly did. His eyes were a dark crimson and his body almost seemed to glow with a matching aura. One that said he could lay a dagger in someone's back before they could draw a weapon. He looked to be Navi's age but he had a presence that she with her small frame and diminutive features lacked.

Despite this Navi was not scared of him. No, his appearance had generated an altogether different reaction, shame.

"I do very much doubt the Spirit of Time would appreciate a parallel being drawn between herself and your… person." It sounded as though he'd had a much less civil word in mind.

"What concern is that of yours Leaf? For someone with time at her fingertips she never had any for you." She could see from a glint in his eye that she'd hit a nerve but nothing else of his body betrayed him.

They lapsed into a dense silence that seemed to last for an eternity. Leaf was the one to break it. "Is this your chosen vocation? To whore out the green of your precious hero," he gestured to the hooded emerald pinafore she wore "the sacred songs of our people and…" he said lifting from her fingers the violin that had hung there limply since she'd seen him. "the Wind God's Fiddle. That doesn't belong to you Navi."

"No more do you hold a claim on it." Snarled Navi drawing the instrument closer to herself.

"I suppose not," Leaf conceded "it belongs to children of the forest."

"They haven't the right to take it unless it is given."

"Yes, mastering the technicality must be a very useful skill for a common thief Navi. Even for one exiled to this dismal place that is rather low."

"Is that why you are here Leaf? To retrieve an instrument for your beloved Fado? I imagine she wants it back."

"Oh I'm sure she does but as you will no doubt have noticed it has been some time since I acted as guardian to her. My mission does not concern the instrument."

Navi's ears perked up. The session of swapped insults had ended. "The council has sent you to this place? Do they have need of me?"

Leaf gave a cold high laugh, mocking the hopeful note that Navi had failed to keep out of her voice. "Need? Of you? No one has any need of you Navi. Not since the travesty that resulted in trusting you in the past. I have business with the Hyrule Castle archivists. Alas since the Hylians require so much rest I must wait till morning before I can meet with them. I came here because I heard rumor of a musician who played unearthly tunes. Imagine my disappointment when I realized it was only you."

With difficulty Navi suppressed the pain that these remarks caused her, preventing them from appearing on her face. Instead she morphed her expression into one of pleasant curiosity. "What could you want in the Castle archive that our people don't already have access to?" The answer seemed to suddenly bloom in front of her, crystal clear. "You're looking for someone. There's nothing in the archive our people don't know except for the Hylian genealogies. And what Hylian would interest the council but him. You're looking for the descendant of the Hero of Hyrule."

Leaf nodded suitably impressed though Navi thought she saw something else reflected in his eyes. Was it unease? "Astute. I see the virtue of knowledge that you ascribe to is not wholly lost on you."

"But," said Navi following her train of thought to its logical conclusion "what do you need with the hero?" She snapped her gaze to Leaf's. "What wrong at home?"

Leaf gulped, his composure starting to crack. "You don't have a home Navi."

Navi was not in the mood to trade more barbs. She jumped to her feat, her chair falling to the floor. She leaned forward till a few inches separated their faces. Her eyes turning from their normal blue to bright gold as she locked onto his expression and slammed her fist on the table. "What's gone wrong in my birth land?" she demanded so loudly that the man at the next table slopped his drink down himself.

"I-I'm not… you're not allowed…" Leaf was for once at a loss for words.

"Leaf," Navi said her tone turning from harsh and demanding to begging. "Please, tell me what's happened to the Faerie Realm."

"It's…" Leaf gulped. "An interloper infiltrated the land. They killed the six Great Fairies that stood sentinel and they stole the Dark Mirror."

"What?" Navi said, drawing back from Leaf, horror coating her face. Her expression pleading that he say it wasn't true. That he'd been lying. When he didn't she murmured more to herself than to him. "That could destroy everything, it would snuff out the life force of every Fairy. All of my people. I have to…"

Leaf seemed to have recovered for he was on his feet in the next instant. The dark crimson of his eyes had lightened to a red like dancing fire. " _You_ have to?" He said maliciously. "You have to what? Run away? Hide? Desert your post at the eleventh hour? _You_ don't have to do anything. We have no need of a wayward attendant who has forgotten what is due to her duty or her race! This is a problem for _our_ people, you aren't one of our number any longer!"

"Pride and arrogance," Navi spat back "are the downfall of any great people! Are you so powerful, Leaf, that you can afford to turn away help? What need to do you have of the hero then, if our people have this so well in hand?"

Navi's golden eyes registered the shift in his body weight, tracked the blow before it was fully realized. She ducked but Leaf's punch never had the chance to land. The moment the argument began, Telma had clicked her fingers at the Adventurer's Guild who had moved into action. Auru grabbed Leaf's arm before it could land.

"That'll be enough boy." Auru said, pinning Leaf's arms behind his back. Despite Leaf's lack of size or apparent strength Auru's muscles strained to hold him. Suddenly Leaf went slack, giving up the fight.

"Fine then," he said angrily "no need for violence."

"You're not welcome here anymore." Telma said with steel in her voice. "Auru if you wouldn't mind showing him to the door."

"I can walk." Leaf said annoyed as Auru pushed him none to gently towards the exit beyond which he disappeared into the night.

"Ciela are you alright?" It was Ashei. Navi became suddenly very aware that that entire bar had fallen silent. Ashei escorted her to the back corner that the Guild had claimed while Telma put right the table and chairs the fairy pair had upset during their argument. Ashei pulled a curtain closed, partitioning the Guild's table from the rest of the bar and sat Navi down in one of the chairs. Navi felt something hot pushed into her hand and she took several great mouthfuls of it. Now that the anger had left her body the things Leaf had said hit her harder than any sword or arrow ever could have done.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she covered her face quickly with her hands to stop Ashei from seeing.

"Ciela, don't worry. Telma won't allow that man here anymore. You won't have to see him again."

At this Navi gave a pitiful whimper for she would have liked nothing more than to see her homeland again. To wake each morning in the land that had given birth to her. To see Leaf and Neri, Curie or Proxi when she woke each day.

"Who was he?" Ashei asked unable to keep her curiosity about the situation at bay despite Navi's state.

"He is…" Navi cast around for a word that described the relationship she held with Leaf. "…my brother." It was not entirely accurate but the closest equivalent Navi knew that Ashei would understand.

"You didn't deserve that Ciela." It was Telma. She must have finished putting the bar right and reassuring the customers for the sounds of loud drunken voices had resumed. "Kin shouldn't be saying those kinds of things to one another."

Navi knew that Telma couldn't have missed Leaf saying that Navi had been ousted from her family. Even if she didn't understand the true context and weight of the statement Navi knew that sooner or later she would ask.

Before Telma could start posing questions Navi said in a small voice, her words broken by the gasps of her tears. "Telma, w-would it be a t-terrible i-inconvenience if I d-didn't f-finish m-my shift? I'd like to r-retire ups-stairs."

"Of course." Said Telma understandingly. The questions would come but not tonight.

Keeping her face covered Navi found her way to the stock room and climbed the ladder to her attic room. It was now the dead of night and there was little to light the dark room. Navi drew her hands from her face to see her tears. They were subtly violet and glowed dimly in the darkness of the room. Navi wiped them on her clothes and not bothering to undress she threw herself onto her bed, letting her pillow stifle her sobs and absorb her violet tears. She continued to cry till her body had no more tears to spill. When she was so exhausted and overburdened by her grief that she could not take another minute of it Navi slipped into a fitful sleep.

 _Author's Note: If anyone has any suggestions for a name for Makar's Violin from LoZ: The Wind Waker I would much appreciate it._


	3. Chapter 2: Nocturn of Kinship

Chapter 2: Nocturne of Kinship

 _It's said that, some time ago, they had advanced techniques that were more powerful than anything anyone had seen. But that power put them at odds with the King at the time, and they were scattered across the land._ _-Rensa_

Navi's eyes snapped open, they were sore and crusty from her tears of the night before. Her limbs felt heavy and as she remembered her counter with Leaf she felt the pain of it well up inside her, threatening to spill out. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry and cry and cry until she shriveled into nothing. She couldn't though. As much as what Leaf had said cut her deep she also knew that if the Fairy Council was sending out its emissaries in search of the Hero of Hyrule then they were truly desperate.

She needed to do something, she needed to help, she needed them to know that she was still of value. With a great effort she sat up and pushed herself off the small bed. She stripped out of the clothes she'd fallen asleep in and began to wash. She took great care to cleanse her face and to clean and straighten her hair before she braided it tight and deliberate down her back. Despite the simplicity of her choice, her hair clearly displayed a soft sheen that she had long since stopped caring to preserve. Many of her people preferred much more elaborate styles, triple pony tails interwoven with vines but Navi was determined to present humility before her people. They were prideful and the act of taking her back would be a serious blow. Best to lessen it as much as possible.

Once she finished washing, Navi went to the small trunk in the corner of the room that contained the bulk of her possessions. She removed several books, maps, travel wear and blankets from the trunk before she found what she was looking for. At the very bottom, pressed flat as though they had not been touched in a very long time was a set of clothing and a small chest. Navi removed both. She set the chest on the ground and donned the clothing. First was a brilliantly white sleeveless tunic that left the upper part of Navi's back exposed to the air. It was embroidered in silver with winged spheres trailing long jagged lines that despite their random nature seemed to have a chaotic symmetry to them. Then a pair of earthy brown stockings that had the image of leaves pressed into the leather, they ended in irregular strokes along the leaf designs. Finally was a set of sandals of a soft blue that curved over her feet in two bands. Navi then opened the small chest to reveal a pair of enchanted items and a long dagger that were Navi's prized possessions. She had a pair of earrings crafted from crimson scales that had the power to protect the wearer from heat and a leather pouch which despite its small size could contain items of any size. She wore the earrings and strapped the pouch to her thigh and picked up the dagger. It had a wooden handle with a small ruby set into the handle. The blade was flawless but dull, it had not been used or serviced in a very long time. Navi strapped the blade horizontally along her back at waist level before she straightened up.

For the first time in a long while she wore her back free from obstruction. In the mirror she could see framed against her skin black lines forming the outline of wings. They were pressed so cleanly against her back that they could have been tattoos.

Smiling slightly Navi started towards the ladder before stopping. She turned back and retrieved from her discarded outfit the hooded emerald pinafore, pulling it on to hide her wings and should she need hide her face.

Navi climbed down into the stock room where she slung the Deku made fiddle over her shoulder. She didn't want to trust it to the magic pouch. Then she entered the bar to find Telma. Being midday, the bar was nearly empty and the tavern owner was taking advantage of the quiet to clean up after the crowd of the night before.

"Telma," she said and though her voice was quiet it carried over the space.

The landlady looked up at Navi and smiled. "Don't you look pretty lass, you finally meet a lad to your liking?"

Navi blushed but her blood being white her face seemed to grow paler. "No." she cast around for the words to explain. Realizing that she couldn't find them she simply said. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience Telma but I'm going to have to go away for a few days. I'm sure Gulley can fill in for me, he's quite skilled on that flute."

Straightening up properly Telma scrutinized Navi. "Does this have anything to do with that man who was in here yesterday? That brother of yours?"

Not wanting to lie Navi said "Yes, there's some old friends I need to talk to. I should be back within a week, maybe ten days." She knew if she had not returned by then it would be of little consequence. Hyrule would have greater problems than the absence of one minstrel.

"I can't talk you out of this Ciela?"

"No." Navi whispered.

"Fine, then I should give you something for the road." She disappeared into the store room and reappeared a few moments later with a small loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese and a water skin. She wrapped the bread and cheese in paper and handed them to Navi.

The fairy smiled at her and whispered "Thank you Telma." Just in case it was her last chance to say it.

Once outside she placed the supplies Telma had given her at the mouth of the pouch on her thigh. They vanished inside with a pop despite being far too big to be held in such a small container.

Navi was grateful for the supplies. It was going to be a long journey and she was unsure when she'd get a chance to restock once she passed by Kakariko Village. As she entered the Castle Town main street Navi glanced at a massive cathedral, three stories tall, made of white stone in its own little courtyard some distance from the town square. As had happened every time she passed saw it Navi felt drawn to it, to enter, pay her respects, pray for guidance but in the end she couldn't bring herself to approach the building. It was the site of too many memories.

She left Castle Town, crossing over the drawbridge that was the only entrance past the stern walls which protected the town. Outside the countryside stretched before her in a vast field. It was broken only by the image of a small ranch on the horizon.

Navi began walking towards it, as she moved the sun fell from its place in the sky, sinking low until it all but disappeared below the mountains. Navi reached the ranch just before the fall of night. It was not safe to traverse the Hylian countryside after dark. Creatures moved in the night which no living being would wish to meet.

A sign over Navi's destination proclaimed the place to be Lon Lon Ranch. It was surrounded by high walls on all sides and a steel gate. She reached it just as the gate was being drawn closed by a gangly man with a thick mustache. The look on his face as he saw her approach said that he was considering slamming the gate in her face but seemed to think better of the idea. He allowed her to cross the threshold before closing the entrance with a clang of steel on steel.

He walked back towards a large house just up the path but when they were halfway there he stopped. "You do have rupees?" he asked turning back to her.

Navi let out a sound of disgust at the demand for payment. "Of course. It's twenty for the night?"

"Forty." The man said gruffly.

"That's robbery." Said Navi annoyed.

"Can't keep letting folks stay the night for scraps. Gotta earn a livin'."

Navi sighed and reached into her pouch. She murmured "Two red rupees." And when she withdrew her hand two small crimson gems were lying on her palm.

He took them without speaking and led her to a small guest room in the corner of the house. It was not much but it would give Navi a night's rest.

She fell asleep quickly and rose early the next morning. The man whose name was Ingo was not thrilled to be awoken before dawn but he perked up when she said she wanted to rent a horse. She handed over a rupee of purple hue before mounting the steed the man provided and set out as the first rays of dawn shone over the great fields surrounding the ranch.

Navi kept the looming shadow of Hyrule's great volcano, Death Mountain, in front of her, riding quickly as was possible without exhausting her horse. The mountain grew closer and closer till she arrived at a rusty iron gate which stretched across the mouth of a wide fissure in the cliffs that made up the base of Death Mountain.

Navi dismounted and unlocked the gate before walking her horse into the small village that served as a rest point for those looking to climb Death Mountain. Kakariko Village had a unique appearance. It had been built into a gorge cut into the side of the mountain by a long dried river. Because of the limited space most of the buildings had been build five or six, even eight stories high, their backs supported by the edges of the cliffs. This was not the first village to bear the name Kakariko. The original which had been on the opposite side of the mountain had been obliterated by one of Death Mountain's most violent eruptions in decades some forty years previous. It was then decided to rebuild somewhere more sheltered from the rock that may fall from the active volcano.

Navi led her horse to the southern end of the village where a great spring commemorating the mountain's spiritual protector bubbled. She let the horse drink after the long journey while she refilled her water skin.

Afterwards she led the horse to a small stable also owned by Lon Lon Ranch which took care of their horses after rentals were complete. She checked the creature in with a blue haired lady who looked exhausted before Navi walked up the inclining path of the village towards the trail that traced the edge of Death Mountain.

Here she was met with resistance, a guard dressed in mail with a pike in hand stood at the beginning of Death Mountain Trail, in front of a heavy gate fifteen feet high across the entrance to the trail. When he saw Navi approaching he spoke. "Sorry miss you can't be going up the mountain today. With the quakes and small eruptions we've been having lately it's not safe for any but a Goron."

Gorons, the mountain people were large creatures whose skin was hard as stone. Molten rock falling from the sky was more of an inconvenience than a hazard to them, like bad weather.

Navi had committed herself to this path and had come too far to be turned back by a guard and a gate. She fixed the man with a steely glare and in that instant her eyes turned brilliantly gold. "I am an emissary of the Great Fairy who makes her home at the summit of Death Mountain. I am returning to her from Hyrule Castle with an urgent message. You will let me pass."

Whether it was because of the steel in her voice or the glow of her eyes the guard did not question her. Instead, he fumbled at his belt for a set of keys which he used to unlock the gate and pull it open wide enough for Navi to enter.

"B-be careful M-miss Fairy. The mountain isn't a s-safe place to be."

Navi nodded curtly at him before beginning her ascent of the volcano. She walked in silent calm for nearly an hour before something went wrong. As she moved her eyes glowed bright red, her senses suddenly on alert. She could feel danger closing in and quite suddenly the ground beneath her feet began to shake. Then her earrings gave an audible click as their power activated and Navi knew seconds before it struck what was coming. She dove to the side as a mass of molten rock the size of her head crashed into the ground where she had been standing just moments before.

Now that she was alert, Navi's eyes turned gold, tracking the shadows of falling rocks as she ran up the trail, desperately searching for shelter. Again and again she dove out of the way of falling debris just before it hit. She used her body to shield her violin case and the ancient instrument within, letting herself be sprayed with chips of molten rock in the process. Luckily her earrings protected her from the heat but they didn't stop the small projectiles from stinging violently each time they made contact.

Finally Navi found a cut in the mountain walls under an overhang. She shoved her violin in first before squeezing into the space after it. The rain of fire continued for another half hour at least before finally giving way. Dust hung in the air over the trail obscuring Navi's vision and making it difficult to breath. She pulled the waterskin from her pouch, and tipped some of the contents down her dry and dusty throat. She then switched the waterskin for a cloth and pressed it to her face hoping to screen out the worst of the dust and ash.

She couldn't be far from the summit Navi reasoned, with the distance she'd covered under fire. She walked through the dust cloud searching desperately for a sign of the Great Fairy's Fountain. Then she heard it, a great laugh like no human would be capable of producing. She was close to the fountain, and the Great Fairy.

Navi followed the sound till mercifully she found an entrance carved into the rock in the shape of a door. Before she entered she looked herself over. Her clothing was as emasculate as when she'd first put it on that morning. It's fairy design keeping it from becoming soiled by the dust. Navi made an effort to clean her face and wipe the dust from her hair before she walked inside. As she crossed the threshold the heat from the mountain seemed to die. The rock changed consistency from a soft and harsh brown stone to a hard blue rock that reflected the light of the cavern. Navi was about to approach the Fairy Fountain when she heard voices.

"Please," said a boy's voice, he sounded young.

"I'm sorry," said a second, female and much older. "There is nothing we can do."

"But if the protection breaks, if the seal is released," he seemed at a loss for words. Finally he croaked "They will all die."

"And that will be a great loss but there are bigger concerns. More hangs in the balance now than the lives of a single village."

The boy gave a strangled sob and Navi heard footsteps coming her way. She quickly pressed herself into the wall of the fountain and the boy too caught up in his own problems did not notice her as he ran past.

Once he was gone Navi walked into the Fountain, her feet splashing through the thin film of water that coated the floor. "Hello Emheralda."

In the center of the cavern was a woman of immense proportion. She was fifteen feet tall with violently pink hair that was tied back in three ornate pony tails. Her clothes where knitted together from vines that concealed most of her body. She was floating in midair, her legs crossed in front of her as though spread out on an enormous invisible couch. The expression on her face was one of shock.

"Navi?" she said the name as though speaking of a dead person.

"It's good to see you Emheralda. It has been ages."

"You shouldn't be here Navi. This place is sovereign territory of the Faerie Realm. This is a violation of your exile. The law says that I should execute you for this."

Navi smiled sadly. "I'm here to help Emheralda. I heard about the loss of the Dark Mirror."

"Navi, you were always my favorite pupil so I'll not report you for coming here but we are handling the problem. You aren't needed for this."

"Emheralda, look at Hyrule, its magic is running wild. Death Mountain crater is loose from its chains, the Zora's river is nearly dry. Whatever you're doing it's not working."

"Be that as it may Navi there is nothing you can bring to this fight that a hundred fairies could not in your place and the Fairy Council will never accept your assistance. You aren't a part of this."

"Emheralda," Navi said marshaling another argument but it seemed the Great Fairy had had enough.

She waved both her hands and a circle of light appeared around Navi's feet. Navi felt her muscles tense, her entire body frozen in place. "Please Navi, leave this place. If you do not I will have no choice but to bring you before the Council and even in this climate of chaos they would not hesitate to have you executed."

Navi gulped, her hopes dashed. "Very well." She said meekly. The circle of light vanished and Navi had no choice but to leave the fairy fountain.

The dust from the recent eruption had cleared somewhat and Navi could at last see down from the mountain to the fields and towns far below. She was about to begin her descent to go where, she wasn't sure, when she heard the sound of quiet sobbing. She looked around and saw a young boy with shoulder length lilac hair sitting on the edge of Death Mountain, his legs dangling over the abyss.

She approached and said "Are you alright?"

His sobs ceased immediately and as he turned to face her his hand whisked away his tears almost faster than her eyes could follow.

The boy got his feet quickly facing her with something like defiance in his eyes. "Nothing," he said shortly. "Do you need something?"

However Navi barely heard him for she was too busy examining his face. He was probably about seventeen with angular features more suited to someone older, his eye brows were sharp giving his expression a constant look of annoyance. However that is not what interested Navi. First and most obviously was a unique tattoo. Over his left eye was an ancient symbol that she knew well, it was itself an eye with three large eyelashes protruding from the top and a single tear falling from below. The lines that made up the eye curved the boy's eyelids and the lashes extended into his eyebrows while the tear dropped onto his cheek. The second thing she noticed was that his eyes were a subdued crimson color, like dried blood.

"You're Sheikah." She said in some surprise. The Sheikah were a race of warriors who wielded powerful shadow magic. They were tasked with protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule but after the great Hylian Civil War over two hundred years ago they had died out, the few survivors scattered to the wind.

After fast as blinking the youth had drawn a small dagger and pressed it to Navi's wrist at the place where Hylians had a major artery. "How do you know that name?" He asked his gaze searching for any sign of deceit.

Navi suddenly realized that she'd made a mistake in her surprise. The Sheikah had died out so long ago that not even the ancient legends remembered their name. The histories remembered them only as 'The Shadow Folk'.

Reacting on instinct Navi's eyes turned red, alerting her to the danger perhaps a few seconds too late. The youth who had been scanning her face gasped and took several steps back. "What are you?" he demanded.

"I'm…" Navi decided there was no point in lying. "I'm a fairy, I've lived long enough to meet others of your kind many years ago."

The youth looked confused. "I've seen Fairies. They're winged balls of light not…" he petered off, and looked Navi up and down.

Navi sighed, she had no desire to go into the biology of her people. She gestured to the Great Fairy Fountain. "She has the form of a Hylian. You don't question that."

"Yeah but…" he seemed to argue again.

Navi cut him off. "What you call fairies are the young of my kind. At a certain age we take a form similar to that of the Hylians." Having no desire to discuss it further Navi changed the subject. "What did ask of Emheralda?"

"Who?" he seemed genuinely confused.

"The Great Fairy, what did you want from her?"

"Oh, I um…" for the first time he didn't seem threatening. The dagger he had drawn fell to his side. "I-I wanted her to save my village?"

"Your village?" Asked Navi, the last Sheikah settlement had been devoid of its founders for many years when it was destroyed by Death Mountain's eruption. Then the truth dawned on her. "You're from Old Kakariko. The Sheikah rebuilt it after the great quake."

"Yeah," he said not bothering to ask how she knew this time. "Our magic is evaporating. First the spells that kept the village hidden and free from monsters and now…"

"The seal on the well." Navi whispered. During the Hylian Civil War a phantom comprised of shadow magic had been sealed beneath the Kakariko well by the village's guardian Impa. Navi remembered with a sense of horror what happened the first time it had escaped and what it had taken to contain it then.

The youth nodded. "If it gets loose it'll destroy the entire village. Our greatest spellcasters are doing their best to maintain the seal but they are just prolonging the inevitable. The magic is disappearing faster than they can apply countermeasures. I thought the Great Fairy of Magic would be able to help. That she could restore the seal but…"

"Emheralda has other things on her mind." Navi gritted her teeth. The Faerie Realm was the source of magic in Hyrule. It was bad enough that its distress had caused disruption to the magic of Hyrule leading to many natural problems however this was far worse. If the magic of the Shadow Folk was actively vanishing then the problems in the Faerie Realm were more serious then Navi had feared, then Leaf had made them out to be. The Dark Mirror was not merely stolen but it had been activated, spreading its foul Twilight over the landscape of Navi's homeland.

"Can you helped me?"

"Sorry?" Asked Navi shaken from thoughts of dark magic.

"Can you help restore the magic of my people?" the youth asked. The hope in his eyes was enough to break Navi's heart but she couldn't help him. To restore the Sheikah seal the Dark Mirror must be disabled and returned to its resting place. That would be a difficult task at the best of times but Navi had no way to enter the Faerie Realm without prosecution let alone conquer a being that had managed to kill six Great Fairies.

"I," said Navi about to tell the boy that she couldn't assist him when a thought occurred to her. The Fairies had been created as guides, to the forest children, to the Hylians, to the Hero. It was their oldest mandate. Acting under that mandate would supersede any other including her banishment. As the boy's fairy guide she would be able to defy her exile without repercussion.

"I may be able to assist." said Navi, "Would you accept my guidance as a servant of the realms?"

"Yes." said the boy without hesitation.

"Good. To help the Sheikah we need to target the problem at the source. There is a great evil in my homeland and its presence is disrupting the magic throughout Hyrule. If it can be defeated all the world's magic included that of the Shadow Folk will be restored. Are you prepared for that?"

The boy nodded. "If it means saving my people I'll do anything."

Suddenly realizing she did not know the boy's name she said. "I'm sorry, where are my manners, my name is Navi." She had considered giving him the false name Ciela but if they were returning to her home there would be no way to maintain the lie. "What's yours?"

"Kafei." said the youth, a look of determination on his face.

Navi turned back towards the Great Fairy Fountain. She would be permitted entry now. She could go home. But something Emheralda had said floated back to her. _There is nothing you can bring to this fight that a hundred fairies could not in your place._ If she was going to be of any use she needed something that no other fairy could provide. She knew where to get it to, if she had the daring and the courage to return to a place she had not seen since she was a child.

"Kafei, in Hyrule there is an ancient temple long forgotten where a sacred blade was enshrined eons ago. Its power will give us an edge once we reach the Faerie Realm."

Kafei nodded at this suggestion and the two descended from the mountain with a purpose, a quest and a plan.


	4. Chapter 3: Aria of the Ancients

Chapter 3: Aria of the Ancients

 _With black roses etched into it, the sword of the Great Fairy is the most powerful of all blades._ -Ancient Texts

Navi and Kafei stood at the mouth of Zora's River where it joined the rest of the waterways of Hyrule. As the Adventurer's Guild had told her, the river was flowing very low. Maybe three feet of water ran over the riverbed while indents in the dirt and stone marked a place some six feet higher where the water had been reaching till recently.

"Come on." Navi said gesturing Kafei over a narrow bridge crossing the water. They continued on an upward incline following the path the river traced through the ground. It was some time before the silence between them was broken.

"So," Kafei said quietly "this temple we're visiting, it's in Zora's Domain?"

Navi shook her head. The temple had been there long before the Zora, an amphibious race of people had settled the area. The Zoras now acted as guardians to Hyrule's water supply, keeping it clean and continuous. However, their species was only a few thousand years old. Long before the Zoras had claimed the river system, the fairies had been at there. "The temple we are going to is old, far older than Zora's Domain. They say that the first of my people to take this form," she said motioning at her own body, "The first Great Fairy, carved the temple in the rock. They called her the Ascendant. Her temple was supposedly the greatest concentration of fairies in this realm. It fell into disuse though. With so many settlements and populations developing, the fairies didn't feel safe in the open anymore. Most returned to the Faerie Realm, some took up residence in the depths of Faron Woods." She glanced upwards. "We're almost there."

"But," said Kafei a look of worry on his face. "You talk like it's a myth, like the stories my Nana used to tell about the first Hylians living on a floating island in the sky. If it's some fairy legend, how do you know we're heading to a real place? Even if it's there, how do you know where?"

"I've been there." said Navi simply. She remembered her first visit to the temple.

 _Still a child, floating in the air by the shoulder of an old friend dressed in the ceremonial red garb of the Gorons, a gift from the rock people. They were in a room whose every surface was covered in ice. "Navi look at this…" he said gesturing to a large brazier that burned with azure flames. "This blue fire... it doesn't seem natural." He reached out to touch it but drew his hand back immediately. "It burns cold. What do you think? Maybe we can use it for something?" She wasn't listen though. Her eyes were drawn to the frosted walls. Behind the clear surface was a set of runes carved into the rock._

"Years ago, Zora's Domain was covered in ice, a friend of mine and I went to find the problem and we stumbled on the temple accidentally. It was also frozen over so we never saw anything but the ante-chamber but there was an inscription on the wall that promised the ancient Black Rose had been laid to rest within."

"Black Rose?"

"Your people would have called it the Great Fairy Sword. Its true name came from the two black rose designs set into the blade."

They lapsed into silence again as they continued the march along Zora's River. Eventually they came to a place where a large overhang of rock shadowed the river. There were torches set into the stone which marked this as the entrance to Zora's Domain.

The Domain, very much like the Goron City, was built directly into the rock. The cavern that housed the domain was open to the air hundreds of feet up where its rocky walls gave way to blue sky. A massive source of Hyrule's water flowed through the area falling from on high in a majestic waterfall into the basin below.

As they entered the area though it become very clear that something was wrong. Navi who had always associated the place with the smell of clean water and fresh fish now detected something acrid, like rotting meat. They saw too that a massive dam had been constructed at the place where the waters of Zora's Domain flowed into the river. All the water behind the dam had a very slight greenish tinge, detectable now only because it was standing still. A troupe of nearly a dozen of the aquatic Zora people stood over the dam working frantically. Despite this though, only a trickle of the river's full potential was flowing out of Zora's Domain.

Navi stopped a passing Zora. He had smooth damp skin on his face and much of his front that ranged from almost white to deep blue. His back was decorated with silver scales that caught the light with a bluish sheen while smooth fins curved down from his forearms and the back of his hairless head. He wore no clothing but that was of little concern to Navi for such trappings were not normal for his people except for ceremony.

"What's happened here?" she asked

The Zora stopped, clearly in a great rush to be somewhere else but also not wanting to appear rude. "The water coming into Zora's Domain from the mountains has become polluted, we're purifying it as fast as possible but it's not enough. If we can't fix the problem soon Lake Hylia will run dry." His speech was slightly distorted as though he was more used to speaking underwater.

"What of Lord Jabu-Jabu? Can he not protect the purity of the water?"

The Zora looked at Navi, his features twisting into an expression of incredulity. "Lord Jabu-Jabu? Now is not the time to rely on fairy tales to save us. We've a real crisis on our hands."

Navi watched the Zora hurry past with some confusion bordering on alarm.

"Who's Jabu-Jabu?" asked Kafei, his gaze also following the departing Zora.

"A water spirit, guardian of the Zoras and the river systems of Hyrule. He is a deity to the Zoras. Their Royal Family have served as his stewards for generations. His sanctuary is directly adjacent to the entrance to the temple. Though…" her voice dropped as though she was speaking only to herself. "Maybe it has been too long. He might not be around anymore."

"Maybe that's why the water's turned sour." Said Kafei. "Why would he a protect people that don't believe in him anymore?"

The question hung in the air between them palpably.

Navi, not wanting to dwell on what would happen to Hyrule if all its spirits of nature abandoned it, decided to keep moving.

"There's a path to the top of the domain behind the waterfall."

The passage they took was cut directly into the rock. At points it had a view of the falling water which sprayed the path with a light mist. As they climbed they encountered several Zoras rushing to and from the top of the falls. They appeared in a great hurry no doubt due to the current state of the water. As they reached increasingly greater heights Navi noticed that the waters of the basin below, normally churning with the Zora folk, was still, except for the falls. If the Zora could not enter their own waters the circumstance was direr than Navi had first thought. The aquatic people, though capable of living on land, required periodic contact with the water to rehydrate, otherwise they became deathly ill.

At the top of the falls, the fairy and her Sheikah companion walked over a grating that had been built over the river to allow easy transit without impeding the flow of the water. They passed through the great coral archway that marked the entrance to the throne room of the Zora leaders. Inside was a cavern, dwarfed in comparison to the size was Zora's Domain but still spacious in its own right. Stone pillars that appeared to be natural formations held the roof of the circular room. The river that fed into the main domain flowed out of a massive pit of water in the center of the room. Navi couldn't see the bottom of the pool but assumed that it was fed by underground springs. On the opposite side of the pool was a massive stone plinth that had been formed into the shape of a seat by decades of Zora rulers sitting upon it.

A little ways from the plinth was a tall Zora woman kneeling on the ground, playing with a Zora child. When she heard Navi's footsteps, the woman said without looking up. "I said I was not to be disturbed unless the situation worsened. What has happened?" her voice carried great authority leaving Navi with no doubt that she was the Queen of the Zoras.

"My Queen," Navi said, bowing respectfully and motioning for Kafei to mimic the gesture. "We are not of your people. We come here on a matter most urgent."

The Zora Queen glanced up and after taking in their appearance she spoke to the child softly. "Laruto my dear, go play with your friends for a while." The little one smiled brightly, her scales reflecting off the wall before she disappeared back into Zora's Domain.

The Zora Queen straightened up and walked to her throne so that she stood facing them directly over the pool in the center of the cavern. She was, Navi thought, beautiful. A growth of dark coral flowed down her head giving her the illusion of having hair and her scales, unlike those of her subjects, were a soft green, like seaweed, and gave a golden shine when the light caught them.

"I am Queen Mipha II. What has brought outsiders to my domain?"

"I…" Navi stumbled, how to phrase her request. "I am an emissary of the Great Fairy of Magic who makes her home at the height of Death Mountain. My companion is from a proud line of those that protected the Royal Family for generations, the Shadow Folk." As she spoke Navi registered Kafei shift uncomfortably but she was too busy calculating her words to process it. "We seek entry to the sanctuary of the Zora's guardian, Lord Jabu-Jabu."

Queen Mipha seemed to consider them for several moments. "A remnant of a mythical people and a Great Fairy outside her fountain, wearing the green of the Hero no less. It is quite an impressive audience I am host to. In my youth, the Great Fairy of Courage made her home in a fountain adjacent to our fair domain but she departed many years ago. I have enormous respect for the Great Fairies of Hyrule, however, I cannot grant your request. Lord Jabu-Jabu is a story. A legend used to frighten and comfort the children. I cannot grant you entry to that which does not exist."

Navi was stunned into silence. She had been sure that even if the common Zora no longer believed in the whale lord, the Royal Family would remember him. At the very least she had believed that they would know where he once resided. If the geography of area had changed that drastically in the last two hundred years Navi didn't know how she would ever find the entrance to her fairy temple.

"Surely you don't expect us to believe that." Said Kafei quietly. "I mean no disrespect, noble Zora Queen, but your family has tended to Jabu-Jabu for generations. My fairy guide has met the whale lord. We know he's real so how can the family who rule the Zoras because of their bond with the Zora patron have no record of him anywhere but your legends?"

Navi glanced back at him. She'd never considered that the Zoras would lie about their god. What would be served by denying his existence?

Mipha considered them again, choosing her words carefully. "How long ago did you meet our guardian venerable Great Fairy?" Her words were respectful, but her tone held some unspoken accusation.

"Many ages ago, Queen Mipha." Navi said, inclining her head. She had no desire to insult the Zora, but they did need something from her. "He was laid deathly ill by dark magic, the last youth that I shepherded had to venture inside him to destroy the curse before the whale lord succumbed to it."

Queen Mipha paused for several long moments. Then she turned away from them. Navi feared they had lost any hope of getting help from the Zora when Mipha turned back to them. She had retrieved from somewhere on her person a brilliantly beautiful pendant constructed of three clear sapphires joined together by gold outlines.

"Follow me." She said simply before she placed the gem into an indent in the front of her throne that fit it perfectly. Mipha turned the jewel sharply and her throne sunk into ground revealing a staircase below that led into a dark tunnel.

Queen Mipha disappeared into the darkness. Navi met Kafei's gaze and with a shrug they circled the pool and ventured down into the tunnel after the Zora Queen. Once they had cleared the staircase the throne reasserted itself over the opening, sealing them in darkness.

Kafei and Navi walked through the dark, the only illumination the soft blue glow that emanated from Navi's skin and eyes, normally concealed by the sun or moonlight. "That was smooth back there Kafei." Navi said quietly.

Kafei shrugged "The Sheikah served the Royal Family as intelligence gatherers. Intelligence doesn't really do any good if you can't interpret it."

"How did you know I'd met Jabu-Jabu?"

"Tone of your voice. When you talked about that Black Rose sword I could tell you're sure it's there, but you've never seen it. With Jabu-Jabu, it was like you were talking about something concrete, somewhere you'd visited."

As they talked, the passage began to slop upwards and Navi spotted a light near the end of the tunnel illuminating the green scales of Queen Mipha some ways in front of them.

They emerged from the passage at the edge of a small reservoir. At once, a smell like the rotting of a hundred moldy corpses hit Navi and Kafei like a galloping horse. A few inches of water surrounded the stone path they walked, the liquid was stained a sickly green color like bile.

Queen Mipha led them up to a dais with four large ornate columns marking the four corners of the structure. Past this the water deepened significantly and in its center with his massive head resting inches from the stone platform was a huge whale. Ten meters high and twice that long Lord Jabu-Jabu was a leviathan of immense proportion.  
When they reached his head Queen Mipha turned towards Kafei and Navi. "As you said Great Fairy, Lord Jabu-Jabu was cursed some two centuries past, after he was restored to health, to protect him we concealed the entrance to his sanctuary, we wiped all historical record of him save for the Royal Family's personal archive and within a few generations the common Zoras and the rest of Hyrule began to think of him as a legend. It appears, however, that our precautions were not enough. He is deeply ill, our best and most trusted physicians can find nothing wrong with him but still they believe he is dying." Queen Mipha gestured out at the water surrounding the whale lord.

Navi realized suddenly that the bile colored water grew denser and more contaminated the closer it got to Jabu-Jabu's body. He was the source of the poison corrupting Zora's River.

"Can you help him Great Fairy?" Queen Mipha asked, looking at Navi desperately.

Navi met the Zora's gaze, realizing suddenly their mistake. Her eyes flicked up to a craggy slash in the rock wall on the whale lord's opposite side which was their actual goal. Then she looked back at Queen Mipha. Navi was not a curative fairy. Those with the power to heal wounds had a pink aura not a blue. Still, as a fairy of knowledge she might know something that could help the whale lord and she was sworn to protect the inhabitants of Hyrule.

"I can try Mipha." She said solemnly.

She approached the great whale and held out her hand. Her eyes turned green but unlike the green of the water surrounding them Navi's were a pure clean color, like forest grass after a rain. Her hand glowed lightly with the same color and she pressed it to Jabu-Jabu's skin. He felt hot and despite being half submerged, his skin felt dry.

She moved the glowing light over him and it illuminated glowing green chains the same sickly color as the water below tracing over his entire body. They were of course symbolic, a product of Navi's illumination magic visible only to her, but she nonetheless knew what they meant.

As she was about to turn back to the Zora Queen the whale's eyes shot open and his enormous mouth parted a few inches. From his throat came a few words in an ancient Hylian dialect that had long died out. The language had been dead longer than Navi had lived but she had studied it in her youth. At least enough to translate what Jabu-Jabu had said.

 _"I… am… fading… life… force… diminished…"_

Navi nodded, she hadn't needed the whale lord to tell her this. The presence of the sickly chains was evidence enough but she was glad to see that he was still capable of speech. Perhaps it was not too late for him.

She leaned down and whispered in her best approximation of the old language. _"I know Lord Protector. I will do what I can."_

Jabu-Jabu was a nature spirit. He may had adopted a physical form but his essence was still maintained by ancient magicks. This was another sign that things in the Faerie Realm were worsening: Jabu-Jabu's life force had been compromised. As his spirit faded away, his body decayed, his corrupted blood and fluids spilling out into the water supply. Divinity turned rotten and mixed with the lifeblood of the Zoras. It was unsurprising they had such difficulty filtering it.

"Can he be moved?" Navi asked the queen.

"No, my best physicians say it would kill him and if he dies I'm told that it would take a century to clean the contamination from our waters. Can you heal him?"

Navi chose her words very carefully. "Possibly. However, he is beyond the conventional healing magic of the fairies." She bit her lip preparing for the lie she was about to tell. "The last time I visited there was a cave in which a number of ancient herbs capable of boosting a fairy's power grew."

Queen Mipha nodded, and pointed to the opening in the rock that Navi had spotted earlier. "Our people call it the Labyrinth. It is a twisted mess of tunnels and open rooms filled with traps. The few of our warriors skilled enough to survive inside took days to return after becoming lost. I would not advise entering such a place. However if it is the only way to save the Lord Jabu-Jabu I will send a small number of the Zora warriors with you. To ensure your safety."

"No," said Navi a little too quickly. The queen narrowed her eyes and to cover her reaction Navi said. "As you said the rooms are full of traps. Both my companion and I are small and nimble, we can navigate more quickly. A company of Zora warriors, no matter how skilled, would only delay our quest and Jabu-Jabu does not have much time left."

Queen Mipha still looked suspicious but she nodded her approval.

Navi turned to Kafei, "How we going to get you up there?"

"What about you?"

"I've got my own way up, you're the one we need to worry about."

"Would this help?" Kafei pulled from his belt a green cylinder six inches tall and about as wide as the average sword grip. From the end of one side protruded a nasty looking spear connected closely to the base by a chain which disappeared inside. "It's a Sheikah design, my father called it the Hookshot."

Navi nodded, she'd seen something similar years before.

"Problem is," said Navi "It's just rock up there. There's nothing for the spike to grab onto." Navi thought for a moment then said, "Release the chain."

Kafei squeezed the handle and pulled on the spike. More chain that it appeared could physically be held within the handle came spilling out. Satisfied Navi grabbed the spike side of the device and removed her hooded green pinafore.

Beneath it her wings as they had been for many years were pressed flush with the skin of her back. With a grunt of effort Navi unfurled them. They were sore and stiff from lack of use but as she flapped them experimentally Navi was pleased to know that they still worked as well as the day she'd got them.

Now released from their prison, Navi's wings glowed with a brilliant aura that bleached the transparent membranes the bright color of the sky. They were like butterfly wings which extended a few inches past her shoulders and fell just past her waist.

Navi smiled at the stunned look on both Kafei and Mipha's faces before she jumped off the ground and her flapping wings carried her into the air. It was not a long journey to the cave entrance but Navi found that her years of neglect had cost her something. By the time she reached the cave entrance and set down on the worn rock just inside she was covered in sweat. She turned around and ground the head of the Hookshot into the stone at the base of the cave.

"Proceed at your discretion."

Kafei clicked the Hootshot and the chain was sucked suddenly back into the handle yanking Kafei where the other end was secured in the rock. Navi caught his arm and helped steady him as he climbed into the cave. She then pulled the head of the Hookshot out of the rock in case they had need of it in the future. They started to walk further in.

"What are we looking for?"

"A chamber filled with blue crystals whose ceiling seems to reflect the night sky."

"That's where we'll find the herbs?"

"Excuse me?" Navi said, remembering the lie she'd told.

"You told Queen Mipha…"

Navi cut him off. "We're still going after the sword."

Kafei stopped suddenly. "But the Zoras…"

Navi stopped too and turned to face him. "Will have to get along without help."

"You lied to her."

"Yes I did, how can you find that so shocking? You're Sheikah, your entire species exists in a web of lies. Why do you think they call you shadows?"

Kafei seemed stunned into silence by her words. While she had him quiet she said suddenly. "Do you know what a Force Gem is?"

"No." he said finding his voice again.

"It is calcified life force, magic that's be hardened into a crystal structure. Very rare. They say the Black Rose was forged from a shard of a massive Force Gem free from any imperfection. If that's true, I can use it to bolster Jabu-Jabu's life force. Buy him some time while we repair the damage at the source."

"And if it isn't true?" Asked Kafei his gaze accusing. "If the sword was made from something else? What then?"

"Then the Zoras are on their own."

"You promised to help."

"No I didn't, all I said was I'd try." Unbidden, Leaf's words of a few days before floated back to her. _Mastering the technicality must be a very useful skill for a common thief, Navi._ She pushed the thought away unwanted.

"You'd leave them to die."

She hated herself for saying it but it was the truth. "It comes down to the numbers Kafei. Without help Jabu-Jabu will die and the Zora's water will be polluted for a hundred years. They'll suffer, many will perish but they will survive. If we don't get that sword my people and yours are facing extinction."

"You sound just like her." Kafei spat.

"Who?"

"That Great Fairy friend of yours." He twisted his voice into a cruel imitation of Emheralda's. " _That will be a great loss but there are bigger concerns._ Some things are more important than the bottom line. You can't put life on a scale like that."

"Hey! Listen!" Navi shouted. "You think I like this? I knew Mipha's grandmother, she was a proud Zora who is probably rolling in her grave at what I said but my integrity is a small price to pay for the lives of my people."

"The road to the Dark Realm is paved with good intentions." Kafei snarled, a disgusted glint in his crimson eye.

"If I'm wrong about the sword, Kafei, there is nothing I can do for Jabu-Jabu anyways, and telling Mipha that will lose us our chance at obtaining the weapon that could save my people. Sometimes there are no right options."

"What if it came down to my people or yours?" Kafei whispered. Navi couldn't answer that question and the words she didn't say hung in the air, forming a dense uncomfortable silence that grew like a wall between the two. Not able to look at the expression on Kafei's face any longer, Navi turned and continued walking down the tunnel. From the sound of nearly silent footsteps behind her she knew that Kafei was following along behind her.

The tunnel curved gently rightwards then suddenly turned left before it ended in an archway. Past the arch the tunnel opened into a great cavern. The arch hadn't been visible the first time she'd visited for the ice that had coated the walls. It was covered from the edge to edge in ruins set deep into the stone.

"What does it say?" Kafei asked from behind her.

Navi approached the arch and examined the runes. "It is ancient fairy text."

"So you can read it?"

"Maybe, this language was ancient and nearly dead when I was a child. I learned some of it, but it is a very complex language. Very flowery and poetic, so much depends on context that could very well be lost to time." Navi bit her lip and moved closer to the runes. " _The trial… of the flower of darkness…_ Sorry that'd be the Great Fairy Sword, flower of darkness, Black Rose." She shook her head and moved further along the string of glyphs. " _The trial of the Black Rose… tests the skill of…"_ she trailed off looking at the following words.

"Tests the skill of what?" Kafei asked looking at Navi to hurry up.

"That's sort of the problem. I told you the old fairy language was very poetic. The next two words come out in a half dozen different ways. _Heart and Soul, Dark and Light,_ one context could put that as _Design and Action_. If I had some reference materials. Some of the old texts that Emheralda works with."

"You don't, all you've got is what you've got."

Navi gritted her teeth and looked through the rest. Deciding to keep her thought process to herself. When she was done she turned to Kafei and recited what was the most accurate translation she could come up with under the circumstances.

" _The Trial of the Black Rose tests the skill of Darkness and Light. The Labyrinth and the Temple are the equalizers of man and spirit. Venture not into its depth if of these you are unprepared."_

Kafei paused for a moment. "Not exactly the clearest message. Might as well have just put, danger do not enter."

"Well," Navi said shrugging. "In ancient fairy script that's pretty much what it says."

With no other recourse Navi stepped forward into the circular cavern within. She tried to remember the way forward. Her true fairy gift, the virtue of knowledge, let her bring the memory of the ice cavern to her mind as crystal clear as though it had happened yesterday but the memory was two hundred years old from a time when the cavern had been covered in ice. The shape was similar, but the interior looked so different that Navi couldn't be sure which led towards the right room. There were three archways much like the one they'd just passed through, but clean of inscription.

"It's this way." She said motioning to one of the three.

Which the pair stepped through. They continued on through another narrow tunnel that twisted and turned at odd angles till they came to a circular cavern so similar to the previous one they'd stood in that Navi wouldn't have known they were different except for the extra stone arch set into the wall.

"Here." She said pointing to another archway.

The next tunnel sloped slowly rightwards then sharply turned left at a jagged ninety-degree angle. At the moved they passed another archway inscribed with runes. Navi stopped for a fraction of a second to get a closer look and was horrified to see the first few glyphs. _The Trial of the Black Rose…_ They were back at the beginning.

Navi looked into the first cavern room again. "I-I think it's this way." She said pointing towards the archway opposite that which she'd chosen the previous time.

"You think?" Kafei asked suddenly not troubling to keep the frustration out of his voice. She turned around to face him "You don't know?"

"It doesn't look the same." She said, her voice pleading for him to understand and at the same time taking a step back through the archway.

Three things happened very suddenly. Navi heard a faint click audible only to her ears, her eyes glowed red and Kafei shouted "DUCK!"

She hit the ground like a falling sack of flour as a blade flew from the air from the wall, disappearing into a crack in the stone on the opposite side. At the same time, she heard another barely audibly click and her eyes glowed red again. She rolled to the side suddenly as another blade flew a few inches above the ground right where she'd been lying. Another click and flash of her eyes and she leapt to her feet diving most inelegantly over another flying blade. The floor was covered in pressure plates and every time Navi touched it another blade flew from the wall intent on slicing her in two. She timed her movement as best she could towards one of the archways hoping desperately that the tunnels acted as a safe zone. She was a hairs breath away when with a careless flip one of the blades caught the edge of her shoulder slicing a clean deep gash through her hood and through her skin. The momentum of the blade cut through the edge of her shoulder but did not stick deep enough to impede its movement and it flew off to rejoin the wall. She gave a gasp of pain and dove for the archway as more blades were launched at her.

On the other side of the room Kafei was shaking his head though she saw a look of concern on his face. He waited a few seconds before he two launched himself into the room. Unlike her he moved gracefully. He leapt, skipped, rolled and pirouetted with grace, not a single one of his movements setting off one of the traps. It took him several minutes to reach Navi, as he could not move directly over the ground, but he got to the opposite arch in the end.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, looking angry.

"What?"

"It's a loop labyrinth. Each wrong turn redirects you to the entrance."

"We could try every possible permutation?"

"You and I both know why that won't work."

Navi did. If any forethought at all had been put into the labyrinth then wrong turns would redirect to a few dummy rooms which would then link back to the entrance so one could never be sure when they'd made a mistake.

"Besides," he said pointing back at the room that had been firing off blades at them. "It looks like a number of traps have been armed. Makes sense really. First trip through is free of danger. If you're supposed to be here you know the right path and you pass right though. But if you're not one wrong move and suddenly the place is ready to kill you. I thought you knew where you were going Navi. You said you'd gotten as far as the ante-chamber before.

"I had but that was two hundred years ago Kafei, and the entire cavern was covered in ice, it must have nullified most of the traps. The way forward looks different now."

"And you didn't think to tell me that? Didn't think that maybe we could figure out the right path together? No, you just carried on pretending to know what was best till we had no idea where we're going and the caves are full of traps ready to cut us in two. Aren't you supposed to be a guide? Doesn't that require you to actually know where you're going?" He pushed her roughly and Navi slipped to the ground with a loud gasp of pain.

Kafei's expression changed almost instantly from one of annoyance and frustration to concern. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she murmured "one of the blades nicked me that's all. Navi's shoulder throbbed painfully. It stung more than she was used to and injury wasn't that uncommon for her. Something was wrong, something was different about this wound.

"Let me see." Kafei's voice was much softer than it had been moments before there was a certain commanding tone in it that Navi didn't have the energy to argue with. Kafei peeled away Navi's pinafore to examine the wound more carefully. "Oh." He said quietly.

"What?" asked Navi, suddenly alarmed.

"It's… the blade caught the upper part of your wing."

Horrified, Navi probed the wound in her shoulder. She felt a nearly two inch tear in upper area of the membrane and a strangled cry escaped her throat. Her breathing was uneven but she managed to say. "How's my shoulder?"

"Not too bad. Your shoulder bone deflected the worst of it. It'll scar but it'll heal."

"My people don't scar." Navi said quickly.

"Oh, lucky you then but we should still tie it up." He took from his belt a small box within which was a roll of bandages, a needle and spool of thread and a few clothes that smelled as though they had been dipped in alcohol. "Should… should I sew up your wing? It looks pretty fragile but I don't want to just leave it."

"It'll heal on its own, just tie it to the shoulder over the other wound."

"All right," he said slightly uncertain with fairy anatomy. He tore a swath from his own tunic and used it to mop up the Navi's blood before he started to tie up with bandages. "I never thought fairies would have white blood."

"I can't imagine you thought too much about fairies at all before two days ago." Said Navi not quite able to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he fastened the cloth tightly over her shoulder.

"What do you actually know about my people? Have you ever bothered to think about us? What we're doing when we're not helping the Hylians deal with whatever catastrophe they've managed to call down upon themselves this time."

"Hey, we're here because of a crisis that _your_ people brought down on the rest of us in case you've forgotten." He said as he pulled her bandages tighter than was strictly necessary and secured them with a pin.

"Yes, one misstep in a hundred thousand years. That really stacks up against Hyrule's bloody history."

Finished with the argument, Navi pulled her damaged green pinafore over her shoulders and pulled up the hood so she wouldn't have to look at Kafei.

As they walked, Navi started to feel light headed. It was an odd sensation. Like she was somehow apart from herself. The wound on her shoulder throbbed and she wondered dully why it hadn't closed up yet. Fairy bodies were less substantial than Hylians and as such they healed more quickly. She felt like an answer was just in reach but the pounding in her head kept her from concentrating. As they walked she stumbled and Kafei was there in an instant to stop her from falling despite the argument they'd been having. "What's wrong?"

"I…" she swallowed. "I don't feel very good."

Kafei pressed the back of his hand to Navi's forehead. "You've got a fever."

"No," the fairy girl murmured meekly. "Fairies don't get sick."

"I think your wound is infected."

"That can't happen. It's not…" then the answer came to her. " _The Labyrinth and the Temple are the equalizers of man and spirit."_

Kafei looked into one of her eyes, checking her responsiveness. "I think it's gotten to your brain."

"No," she said shaking her head. "The inscription on the door. I told you ancient fairy script is a highly metaphorical language. Man in the right context means mortal and spirit immortal. It was a warning. In these walls the protections of immortals like the fairies are stripped away. It was probably added after the temple was abandoned to protect the sword."

"What does that mean for you?" Kafei asked warily.

"It means that as long as I'm in here my wounds won't heal. We need to go back, regroup."

"No," said Kafei quietly. "You said yourself. If Mipha realizes that you… we lied to her she won't let us back in here and I don't think you have the strength to fly to the opening a second time. Kafei drew from an inside pocket of his tunic a small glass jar filled with a red liquid. "Here, I had a witch named Maple brew this up for me. It can't heal wounds but it'll stave off infection and give you a burst of energy for a little while. Let's hope that's all we need."

Navi nodded and took the bottle, downing the contents in a few gulps. It tasted nasty, like fermented mushrooms, but it seemed to do the trick. The pain cleared from Navi's head and she could hardly feel the throbbing of her shoulder. She stored the bottle in her pouch.

"Better?"

"Much."

"Come on."

Kafei led the way through the tunnel into the next room. At the opening archway they stopped and Kafei cautiously tested the edge of the floor for more pressure plates but when none seemed apparent they decided it was safe to enter.

The interior of next room seemed nearly identical to those of previous ones except this one had a large brazier in the center that was filled with bright burning azure flames that cast a cold light over the cavern, reflected by the stone walls.

As they passed by the brazier suddenly a half dozen bats that had apparently been roosting deep within flew out, their wings coated in the same blue fire.

"They're Keese, Don't let them touch you." Navi shouted drawing her long dagger. "Destroy them before they swoop down on you." She shivered slightly thinking _I hate the cold_.

"Thanks." Said Kafei keeping a close watch on the movement of the Keese. "I was thinking of letting them set up a nest in my hair before you warned me."

As one of the flying menaces came close, Navi slashed at it with her dagger, cleaving it cleanly in two. The severed halves fell to the ground, shriveling up into nothing.

Meanwhile Kafei had killed three of the Keese but ice from the cold flames was beginning to creep up the blade of his weapon.

When they were down to only one of the flying creatures, the blue fire brazier spit out another six Keese. Navi glanced around wildly for a solution. It was impossible to know how many of Keese had made their home in the brazier or indeed if the fire wasn't creating them itself. They couldn't keep fighting like this indefinitely. At that moment her eyes fell on several inscriptions that had been set into the floor at the base of each archway.

"This way!" she shouted grabbing his arm and dragging him towards one of the gateways into another tunnel. Mercifully the Keese did not follow them. It seemed they would not stray too far from the brazier they called home.

"This is the right way?" Kafei asked warily.

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"There was an inscription on the ground. In front of this passage was _'Beware the Cold'_ in front of the other was _'The Warmth of Home'_."

"What makes cold more likely than home? Wasn't this temple your people's first structure in Hyrule? Wouldn't that make it a sort of home to them?"

"Not bad." Navi conceded. "You're starting to think like us. Not quite though. The ante-chamber has a complex set of crystal structures surrounding the entrance door. They look a lot like ice, combined with the blue fire that lights the room. Hence, beware the cold. In the old language home has a certain connotation of safety and security and where we are going is neither of those things. Home in this case would be an exit."

The next room was rather like the previous except it lacked the brazier of blue fire. When they stepped in there was a howl like that of a tortured wolf that seemed to tear right through Navi, freezing her in place. From the center of the room appeared a creature the size of a bear with long claws, and teeth like knives set into its snarling snout, it was a White Wolfos.

It started towards them and in that moment Navi shook off the fog of the howl. "Keep it busy." She said to Kafei before circling the beast to get to the three archways that served as the major exits for the room. Like the previous cavern there were three inscriptions. As best she could read them they translated as _'Ascension is Key', 'Release from Obligation'_ and _'Followers Proclaim'_.

She relayed these messages to Kafei who was fending off the White Wolfos with difficulty. "It's not option two, my kind were created as guardians, release from that means death to us. I don't know about the others, they both seem to talk about the temple!"

"Ascension!" Kafei shouted. "You said they called the sword's wielder the Ascendant. Which is the arch with that inscription?"

"This one." Navi said motioning. She used her dagger to draw the attention of the Wolfos while Kafei made a run for the arch. When he was close enough Navi herself turned and fled from the monster. It chased her but when it was a hair's breadth from grabbing her by the cloak it stopped. It seemed like all the other monsters of the place it would not leave its own cave.

The passage terminated, not like the others in a stone arch, but with a door marked with an elaborate snowflake design. Inside was a room of breathtaking beauty. Two more blue fire braziers stood against the opposite walls flanking a doorway and more fairy script. The walls of the room had been carved out of black crystal which, when reflecting the light of the blue fire, gave the appearance of thousands of stars winking at them from an infinite space. The door behind them was decorated with a growth of blue gemstones that grew at jacked angles giving the impression of ice. In the center of the room was a pool of water which Navi knew from experience led to a

Navi read the inscription over the doorway. " _The Temple of the Ascendant. Only when both halves unite will the Black Rose be relinquished. All others will perish."_

"You think it's safe?" Kafei asked "That doesn't sound inviting."

"No, it's probably filled with as many traps as an immortal with something to hide for all eternity can think of. But we don't really have any choice do we." Navi walked throw the doorway into the inner chamber.

Surprisingly the interior of the temple was a single room. There was a path that was flanked on either side by a few inches of cool clean water. At the end of the path was a staircase leading to a deep pool. It looked very much like the modern fairy fountain, like where Emheralda made her home, but there were several key differences. The stone was ancient and brown, crumbling in places as though to protest the age of the place. Behind two staircases flanked the pool leading to a dais high on the rock wall where Navi could see the top of a statue. Carved into the walls along the path they were on were a number of pictograms. Navi tred over the shallow water to take a closer look at them.

On the right were a series of panels that seemed to depict the lifecycle of her people. The first showed a small indistinct ball with insect wings hovering in midair. Directly to its left was a teenage girl about Navi's size in a flowery dress with butterfly wings extending from her back. Following was a comparatively large woman who bore a strong resemblance to Emheralda with her three pony tails and vine spun clothing. The last portray on the line showed a vaguely Hylian figure. She had all the right parts, a head, two arms two legs and so forth but she seemed to almost have been carved of stone herself even with the medium used to display her. Her features were completely symmetrical and simple, which seemed to be the theme of her. It looked more like a rendering of a statue than an actual person.

"What are these?" Kafei asked from behind her.

"My people." Navi whispered. She motioned at the first. "Wisps, our infant form." She moved to the next. "Fairykin, the adolescent stage." She pointed to the vine covered figure "Then there's the Great Fairies, our adults and," she motioned to the woman who seemed to be carved from stone. "The Fairy Queens, our elders."

"What about these?" Kafei asked motioning to a pictogram that had been set above and perfectly between the stage of wisp and fairykin and another that had been placed below the Great Fairy.

"These are the Twisted." Navi said pointing to the one above. It depicted a ghoulish sight. A small figure with exaggerated almost inhuman features, a head that was too large for its body and no hair to speak of. "Wisps that cannot quite reach the stage of fairykin become trapped in a sort of in between. They cannot go back, they cannot move forward. They usually end up haunting the woods, playing tricks on travelers."

"Can't they be helped?"

"No. They eventually fade away."

"The other one?" He said in reference to the portray that hung next to the Great Fairy. He asked tentatively, as though he was almost afraid to hear the answer.

The image showed a mass of small figures that bore a resemblance to the twisted circling and churning over one another in a massive spiral.

"Stray Fairies. If a Great Fairy is wounded in combat significantly she may be shattered into a hundred of these which if not kept together will disperse across the land. Only by reuniting them can the Great Fairy reform. If not…"

"Yeah," Kafei muttered "they fade away."

The pair turned away from the pictograms and returned to the path. They proceeded up the stairs circling the pool till they stood on the dais with the statue. It was of a woman. She was beautiful but there was a severe glint to her stone eye reinforced by the angle of her lips. She looked imposing. In her hands however, drawn across her chest, cradled in her arms was a sword that looked to have been carved out of an enormous purple gemstone.

Navi touched the statue hoping to pry the sword from the stone arms when it suddenly moved. The arms moved, presenting the sword cleanly to Navi.

She was about to take it when Kafei grabbed her arm. "Nothing has been simple thus far. Why should it just give us the blade now? After that warning on the door."

"What else can we do?" asked Navi. "We're here for the sword, the sword is right there. Are you suggesting we don't take it?"

Kafei apparently had no retort to this and so stood aside and Navi gripped the handle of the blade.

The lips of the statue curved into a cruel smile and it said in the old language. " _Perish thieves."_

Navi had the sword in her grasp but the moment it parted contact with the statue the walls of the temple began to shake. Great stones fell from the ceiling as Kafei and Navi made a run for the exit Just as they were about to reach the doorway however a stone the size of Navi's head cracked loose from the wall and hit her squarely in the back. She was crushed the floor and she heard an audible crack from within her own chest.

Kafei, with the quickness inherent to his race, pried the rock from Navi's form and helped her to her feet. "How do we get out?" he asked desperately.

"The pool." She croaked. Her airways felt constricted. She was having trouble breathing. "In the ante-chamber, it leads back to Jabu-Jabu."

Soon as they cleared the door into ante-chamber Kafei dove into the pool dragging Navi with him. There was a strong current to the water despite it not being fed by anything which pushed them roughly through the narrow passage and spit them back out in Jabu-Jabu's Sanctuary. They fell from a cliff several feet in the air and landed in a tangled mess in the shallow water near the old whale lord.

As they hit the ground all the wind was knocked from Navi and she coughed roughly, trying to pull breath into lungs that didn't seem to want to fill. Despite her injuries, despite their arguments, despite the pain in Navi's chest she smiled. She had the Black Rose, the Sword of the Great Fairy clutched in her arms.

 _Author's Note: An expanded version of the Temple of the Ascendant has been planned out, using Design elements of Sakon's hideout from Majora's Mask. This will likely be implemented in the second draft._


End file.
